Actor Vincent Piazza's role of gangster Lucky Luciano in hit TV drama Boardwalk Empire brought him and his father closer. The Jersey Boys star insists he couldn't pass up the opportunity to play the violent crime boss, despite his reservations about playing Italian stereotypes, because Martin Scorsese and writer Terence Winter were involvement in the project.
And the and the role came with an added bonus.
He tells U.S. breakfast show Today, "My father emigrated here (America)... in 1963 and just learning about the character, he emigrated in, I think,1909... I just wanted to understand the culture and talk to my father about his experience.
"And whenever I had a chance to work with Sicilian dialogue in the show, most people know Italian these days, but it's kind of an antiquated dialect and getting to speak with my father about it, I don't know it was just something to share, it was a lot of fun."

In true season finale form, the latest episode of Boardwalk Empire delivers a handful of deaths, a few big reveals, a good portion of revenge (and due comeuppance), the dashing of some dreams and the granting of others, and a begrudging understanding waged between two antagonistic parties. Following an opening sequence highlighting the leviathan of gangster-on-gangster crime sweeping Atlantic City (delivered with an irreverence straight out of Chicago), we pick up right where we left off: Nucky holed up in a remote Jersey cabin, building an army with the men of Johnny Torrio and Chalky White; Gyp Rosetti claiming base in Gillian’s brothel, waging an attack on Nucky with Joe Masseria behind him; Lucky Luciano apprehended by two undercover cops after the attempted sale of heroin. So how does all this play out for everyone?
Nucky
Where We Left Him: Hiding out in his nephew’s warehouse with Eli, trying to keep peace among his troops —Torrio’s men, led by Al Capone, don’t take kindly to White’s men, and vice versa.
What Happens: Nucky institutes a plan. Having sent Mickey Doyle off to the Pennsylvania distillery that he and Sen. Andrew Mellon have business with, Nucky tricks his gabby goon into spreading the word of the profitable location to Arnold Rothstein, who himself phones Nucky with a trade: controlling stake in the distillery’s soon-to-be-prosperous brewing business in return for his convincing of Joe Masseria to call off his dogs in the fight against Nucky. The ex-treasurer agrees, arranging for his army to slaughter all of Masseria’s men just the same following their order to leave base at Gillian’s brothel and head back to New York.
Additionally, Nucky and Mellon have arranged the giving up of Rothstein to the law following the whole ordeal. Finally, the takedown of an unsuspecting, unarmed, unmanned, unbalanced Gyp Rosetti, which Nucky masterminds (although at this point, it isn’t too much of a struggle), and the assimilation back into a life of sad, lonely, incognito prosperity.
Next:

In the aftermath of Owen Slater’s death, one would think the prime focus for Boardwalk Empire might be the emotional reaction of one Margaret Thompson (née Schroeder (née-er Rohan)), Owen’s enamored mistress and the mother of his unborn child. But Margaret is nowhere to be seen in this episode — she has been rustled off to safety, along with her children, while Nucky holes up in his office with a troupe of armed bodyguards and, as always, Eddie Kessler, who earns his dramatic keep in this week’s episodes after two and a half seasons as babbling whipping boy. Eddie vows to Nucky that he will not leave his side, assuring his boss that the team of men assigned with their protection are nothing but hired goons. Eddie believes that he is the only man whom Nucky can really trust, and asserts his unwavering position beside him — a noble loyalty reserved for very few figures in the Boardwalk universe. Knowing full well what his employer does for a living, how he conducts business, the corners he cuts and the victims he has tolled (not to mention how badly he himself is treated by the man), Eddie somehow grants Nucky a love and worship you won’t find elsewhere on the Atlantic City boardwalk. As Eddie affirms at the beginning of the episode, Nucky is his life. And his adherence to this life in particular might be what costs him any at all: while standing tall in the defense of his boss, Eddie is shot in the side and begins losing blood rather quickly.
Of course, Nucky doesn’t discover the wound until the two of them have managed their escape of Nucky’s office — overrun with Gyp Rosetti’s men who have taken out all of Nucky’s — and nabbed a nearby car from a terrified passerby. The opening sequence, which follows Nucky and Eddie as they hide out in the former’s suite, dodging bullets and doling out a few of their own, sneaking out through a desolate alleyway and talking a townsperson into lending them his vehicle, is uniquely exciting for Boardwalk of late. And this isn’t because people’s lives are rarely in danger on this show, but because of how intimate this scene in particular feels. The pairing of Nucky with his long-suffering secretary Eddie as the two hapless heroes hit the road for safety has a fun, sort of darkly comic feel — reminiscent in a way of Bobe Hope and Bing Crosby’s Road to movies of the 1940s and ‘50s, mixed with the morbid taste of a first-person shooter like Medal of Honor or Halo or SOCOM or whatever it was that my college housemates were always playing when I wanted to use the TV for Mario RPG.
Quickly, Nucky learns of Eddie’s affliction… the first symptom being the latter falling nearly unconscious while steering the getaway car off the road. Nucky apprehends driving duties and opts to take Eddie to the hospital, but is beaten to the punch when a slew of Rosetti’s men swarm out of the bulrushes as he arrives at the medical building, forcing Nucky to hightail it “across the fence” to Chalky White’s side of town.
Chalky and his army allow hospice for Nucky and a suffering Eddie, even coughing up Chalky’s aspiring son-in-law/med student to tend to Mr. Kessler’s needs as best he can. One of the most heartbreaking moments during the touch-and-go-for-a-while procedure is when Chalky asks Nucky to identify any family that Eddie has, and Nucky sheepishly admits to having no knowledge on the subject. Here Nucky has a man who was willing to die for him and he can’t even identify a single family member of his.
Not only in Eddie but in Chalky does Nucky discover an insuperable loyalty. Chalky and his men turn away Gyp Rosetti’s substantial reward offering for the disclosure of Nucky, instead keeping the former treasurer safe in transporting him out of town… that is, before Nucky has a third-act change of heart, opting instead to stay in Atlantic City and take what’s his. Following a somber conversation with a rambling Eddie, half in English and half in German and all in the thickest sheath of sorrow — Eddie admits to having, or fabricates entirely, a wife and two sons (news to Nucky) while trying to recollect the words to an old rhyme about keeping your spirits high… a perfect testament to this perpetually upbeat victim of circumstance.
Nucky meets up with his brother Eli via the help of Nucky’s nephew/Eli’s son Willy, who arranges a safe house in his place of employ (closed for business for the day). Eli delivers Chicago’s finest to Nucky, who (taking a lesson from the true friends he discovers on this fateful day), rushes to the aid of his innocent nephew when unfamiliar men approach. Al Capone closes out the episode by promising Nucky his allegiance, in the most snarky and snide way conceivable, foreshadowing a good deal of action to follow. Nucky has earned the partnership of Torrio’s team, meaning that Joe Masseri and Gyp Rosetti have their work cut out for them in the remainder of the season.
While Nucky, Eddie, and Chalky are out on their wild adventure through the coast of Jersey, Richard Harrow sets up his own ominous conclusion. After Rosetti’s men take control of Gillian’s brothel (leaving her in a position of esteem), she has two of her new thugs escort Richard off the premises for good — she’ll have no more of his interference with her systematic brainwashing of young Tommy… but Richard will not go quietly into this night. He’s got a whole lot of guns ready to use next week…And finally, Lucky Luciano is arrested when he tries to sell heroin to an undercover cop. Meyer tells him not to. That’s about the size of it for those schmucks.
Next week, the finale: Chicago Vs. the New Yorkers. Richard Vs. Gillian. Lucky Vs. the Judicial System. What fates will befall which characters?
[Photo Credit: HBO]
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A rule of thumb for all Boardwalk Empire characters: don’t make plans. Anytime someone announces the pursuit of any sort of aspiration, he’s bound to wind up six feet under by the end of the very same episode. Meeting this fate on the latest episode of the series is Owen Slater — a character so debonair and likable, albeit shifty and amoral, that it’s almost a miracle he’s lasted this long on the show. When we last left Owen, he and the enamored Margaret were vowing to flee away together, escaping the life that Nucky has built for them. Right up until he shows up in the Thompsons’ doorway, dead inside a box (courtesy of Joe Masseria), Owen was asserting himself dedicated to that very plan… although who can tell if this guy is ever actually speaking the truth?
Let’s backtrack. Nucky rallies his inner circle (Owen, Eli, and Mickey) to pull the trigger on the antagonistic Masseria, rally the help of Johnny Torrio, and set up shop in Pennsylvania to start work on their own distillery, respectively. We don’t see how Eli’s and Mickey’s missions play out, but we do see what the cruel fates have in store for Owen. Masseria is tipped off to his approach by an especially traitorous pair of entrepreneurs: Lucky Luciano and Meyer Lansky, who, in hopes of striking a deal with Masseria to fund a heroin operation, give up info about their “pal” Nucky’s plans to do away with the Mafia boss.
So, Masseria beats Owen to the punch… and all this after Nucky’s right-hand man has just learned that he’s going to be a father: Margaret is pregnant with his child. And given her mass hysterics upon glance of Owen’s dead body, Nucky is likely onto the fact that there was something going on between the two… although, really, did he think their marriage was going just fine before this?
Business as usual for Bobby Cannavale’s mad hatter. Something goes wrong in his operation (a dozen or two bottles go overboard and wash up on the Atlantic City shores during delivery), someone speaks out of turn when trying to be helpful, and he goes into a blinding, homicidal rage. It’s not shocking anymore, Boardwalk. Watching Rosetti is just like living next door to a crying baby — always the same nonsensical routine, and we just want to tell him to shut up and get over it already.
But on the opposite side of the spectrum is Richard, who, although living in a proverbial soap opera at this point, is always invigorating. Richard’s girlfriend Julie encourages him subtly to take the rearing of young Tommy into his own hands, and then invites him back to her place… where her belligerent father insults them both, earning Richard’s violent (but controlled) wrath. If and when Richard is going to institute a move of his own, with Julie and Tommy along for the ride, is uncertain. But hopefully any plans our favorite World War I veteran makes won’t leave him in a box on somebody’s doorstep. We’d miss you most of all, Richard.
Speaking of plans gone awry, hardly any time at all has passed since Van Alden has gotten himself into the bootlegging business before trouble heads his way. Thinking he’s made a faithful customer in a Norwegian barkeep, Van Alden is ratted out to the Johnny Torrio union and manhandled all the way to a meeting with an unhappy Al Capone, who, this season, is quickly rising to the prominence that history has pinned to his lapel.
And finally, poor Jess Smith. Innocent, good-natured, potentially brain damaged Jess Smith, who takes himself out of the picture after finding out that Harry Daugherty, his own childhood friend and closest confidant, was willing to have him killed as not to prompt any more trouble professionally. Little does he know, Daughtery is next… at least as far as Nucky’s schematics would read.
It seems like everyone close to Mr. Thompson finds him or herself on the wrong side of this war. This season alone, Nucky has lost his business associate (Manny Horvitz), his girlfriend (Billie), and now his right-hand man. Who could be next — Eli? Margaret? Please not Eddie.
[Photo Credit: HBO]
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Last week’s exemplary episode of Boardwalk Empire attached to the Thompson family good deal of elements that are revisited in the latest episode: Treasurer Andrew Mellon’s concordance with Nucky’s plan to take down George Remus; Margaret’s submission to her feelings for Owen; the trying qualm of whether or not to acquire a pony for Emily’s eighth birthday party. But there’s really only one major factor you’d have to keep in mind to follow the newest Boardwalk, “The Milkmaid’s Lot”: the explosion. And it seemed like they were just going to gloss over that, didn’t it?
We find Nucky keeping stead in his hotel suite with the family, suffering from incessant confusion, consistent spells of dizziness and tinnitus, and fleeting mental projections of Billie’s final smile to him before she was consumed by the blast. He’s not on top of his game — forgetting his whereabouts in the middle of conversations, not recognizing his own wife and brother, and calling back continuously to the issue of Emily’s absent pony (which was never apprehended, in light of the incident). Nucky’s losing it. But he vigorously stands by his call to arms against the explosion’s perpetrator, Gyp Rosetti, and his business associate Joe Masseria. Nucky wants them both dead, and he is rounding up the troops to see the act carried out.
Unfortunately, Nucky has fewer steadfast friends than he might have thought. The men who attend his meeting — Arnold Rothstein, Lucky Luciano, Meyer Lansky, Waxey Gordon, and a bunch of other criminal bigwigs we’ve either never or barely heard from before — reject Nucky’s request for alliance in his warfare against Rosetti and Masseria.
His losses don’t stop there: more aware that ever of the nature of his business (and about his extramarital attachments), and more vehement than ever about her feelings for Owen, Margaret anxiously wants out of this life, confirming to Owen that she will leave with him as soon as they are able — something with which Owen is also entirely on board (or so he says… it’s hard to read his unwaveringly straight-faced and even-keeled character). So to recap Nucky’s losses: Billie; his allies; his wife, right-hand man, and children (imminently); and, as he is so fervently worried, his life. But at least he finds that bird earring on his bathroom floor!
But while Nucky is likely fearful over his worthy foe, Gyp Rosetti seems to be losing his grip a little bit as well. Even after having taken complete control over Tabor Heights, New Jersey, Rosetti fails to impress his boss and this show’s entire Italian population’s father figure, Joe Masseria. Rosetti’s failure to successfully kill Nucky and Rothstein in the explosion, along with his general attitude and unpredictability, keeps Rosetti a far reach from Masseria’s respect. But these harsh words only charge Rosetti further — a war, as symbolized by his theft of and adornment with and Napoleon-esque hat he steals from Tabor Heights’ library, is definitely on its way.
A more personal story exists among the residents of Gillian’s brothel. When Richard takes off for the night to attend a legion meeting — that’s code for a party with his new girlfriend Julie — Tommy earns another dose of childhood trauma. Tommy walks in on one of the call girls (a kindhearted young lady with whom the boy seems particularly smitten) in the throes of her profession, which sends him running off hysterically, enraging Gillian… who is not particularly pleased that Tommy is beginning to show affection for someone other than her.
Before arriving home to the disaster, Richard’s night was actually going quite well. Though he begins the evening with Julie as anxiously and awkwardly as one might expect, Richard exhibits a flare on the dance floor that impresses his date as well as the slew of veteran spectators… and earns him a kiss, no less. Something the perpetually heartbroken, self-loathing soldier probably never thought he’d get again.
When Richard tends to a half-asleep Tommy after a stern talking to from Gillian, the young boy mutters that he wants to “go home,” prompting suggestion that maybe Margaret and Owen won’t be the only ones running off together. It seems that Richard’s new dream might be to start a new life with Julie and Tommy, although there are two very ferocious problems standing in the way of that: Julie’s alcoholic father and, even worse, Gillian.
The way things are setting up in this show, big changes are bound to take hold of both the Thompson household and the Darmody residence. But are we really likely to see Nucky gunned down by Gyp Rosetti? Will the treasurer be able to handle himself against the insane mobster? Or will his plan to take down Harry Daugherty (the first step of which is enacted this week, when George Remus is arrested and agrees to give up his associates Daugherty and Jess Smith) somehow come into play in Nucky's survival?
[Photo Credit: HBO]
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If you caught this week's episode of Boardwalk Empire, you're likely to agree that the ending was one of the series' first genuine "Holy sh**!" moments in quite some time (spoilers to follow, so be wary). Following a breakup-and-makeup session with her emotionally ravaged lover Nucky Thompson, showgirl and aspiring movie star Billie Kent fell victim to cruel machinations of the mid-season formula: she is killed in a colossal explosion, courtesy of the handiwork of Gyp Rosetti, meant to do away with Nucky, and his business associates Arnold Rothstein and Lucky Luciano.
We've warmed up to Billie quite a bit since her introduction in the Season 3 premiere. She has brought Nucky face to face with his thickening complex to act the father and protector of every woman he meets, usually aspiring to play the hero for those more than capable of rescuing themselves. But even with her contributions to the construction of Nucky's character, even with actor Meg Steedle's onscreen affability, and even with the eye-popping means through which she was killed, it's hard to really tread too heavily on the subject of Billie's passing. She's not, after all, Jimmy.
Ever since Jimmy was killed in that mind-warping Season 2 finale, the show has killed off a handful of noteworthy figures, some in particularly shocking ways. But it's difficult to muster up the energy we had when James Darmody fell dead last year. These passings seem to be coming off more as surprising and exciting moments, rather than the weighty game changers disturb and enliven us long after viewings, as was the case with Jimmy's.
Here's a rundown of the major mortalities Season 3 has dealt us so far:
Manny Horvitz
Shot in his own doorway by Richard Harrow, seeking vengeance for the murder of Angela Darmody
Roland Smith
Shot by Nucky Thompson after stealing from, lying to, and all but winning over the former treasurer (Jimmy really left a hole in Nucky's heart)
Joe Miller
Beaten to death by Al Capone after bullying Capone's pal for his weight
Agent Coughlin
Attacked and smothered by Nelson Van Alden and his wife Sigrid in their home when they thought he had come to arrest
Roger (the Jimmy Doppelganger)
Drugged and drowned by Gillian Darmody in her brothel bathtub
Billie Kent
Killed in an explosion meant to take down Nucky Thompson, courtesy of Gyp Rosetti
All these, plus a handful of one-off or nameless characters, have met their ends over the past seven weeks. And just as they are so morbidly listed above in a fashion that seems more like a mathematical brief than a list of human beings befallen by tragedy do these deaths translate to the screen. Since Jimmy, whose murder was so powerful it took an entire summer upon which to properly ruminate, every shooting, strangling, and restaurant explosion hasn't afforded audiences with the appropriate substance to truly mourn these characters, and to truly maintain an investment in this world.
It's not easy for a show with as many characters as Boardwalk to make them all feel important to us, personally. Billie Kent is probably the greatest achievement yet this season. We knew her through Nucky, and largely as a function of Nucky. When she, a complete innocent, was taken down thanks only to her affection for a not-so-great man, it was tragic and sad. What we need from Boardwalk is more of this.
Sure, the series can fill its episodes with acts of vengeance on the part of fan favorite characters like Richard, Van Alden, and Al Capone. But we won't remember these deaths the way we'll remember Jimmy's and, to a lesser extent, Billie's. And while it might seem macabre to campaign for more significant deaths, it is important that we do not allow onscreen killing to become an aesthetic. While on TV we do have minor characters, in real life, everyone is the star of his or her own series. Nobody's real world passing is "meant" to be a ratings ploy, and it's detrimental when this is a practice to which we become accustomed on television. Our treasuring of the lives of Jimmy, Billie, and all the rest of the characters to whom we are sincerely attached is important. Appreciating all living individuals as major characters, significant people, is important. Even if we're meant to hate them, we have to have some semblance of humanity for them.
And that's why Boardwalk did such a bang-up job crafting Jimmy. He was a bad guy, sure, but one we knew, and one we felt that we truly lost. We'd feel the same for Nucky (bad, but important to us), for Margaret, for Richard... unfortunately, a killing off of every character like this would effectively end the show. That's why Boardwalk needs to find a new M.O.
Instead of resorting to the obvious gangster show ploy of shocking deaths, we need to see more enlivening: more of Nucky recognizing the complexes the death of his son brought on. More of Margaret struggling to identify her own sense of morality. Death is an inevitable element that should, of course, be addressed... but when it's addressed just to make us jump out of our chairs, that's just selling short the great characters involved. [Photo Credit: HBO] More:Revenge Recap: And We're Back in The Game The Walking Dead Recap: Killer Within Homeland Recap: Die Hard From Our Partners: Katy Perry Moves Forward at Barack Obama Rally in Wisconsin (PHOTOS) (Celebuzz) Russell Brand Talks Awkward Encounter With Ex-Wife Katy Perry and Addresses Geri Halliwell Dating Rumors (EXCLUSIVE) (Celebuzz)

Anyone who caught this week's episode of Boardwalk Empire is probably only talking about one thing: that ending. And that's really saying something, because even without its shocking final moment, this latest installment of the HBO series stands out as what might be the season's best episode. Perhaps even one of the series' altogether. Thanks to its playful but sincere tone, some intriguing stylistic choices (reminiscent of the early days of the highly experimental The Sopranos) and a wholehearted devotion to the personal and professional plagues of one Nucky Thompson, "The Pony" makes itself remarkable as one of Boardwalk's most impressive feats in a long while.
And following the bulk of this Tim Van Patten-directed ep (which, alongside Nucky, features primarily Margaret, Nelson Van Alden, Al Capone, Billie Kent, and Gillian Darmody — each armed with a gripping display of growth and development) is Boardwalk's first true "Holy s***!" moment since the killing off of our beloved Jimmy.
The late Mr. Darmody's death hangs heavy over the episode. We discover that the innocent young man — the Jimmy doppelgänger — who met his end at the hands of Gillian last week was part of Gillian's ploy to declare her son dead and inherit his properties: i.e., the brothel, and her grandson Tommy. Upon hearing the news that Jimmy allegedly "died in his mother's bathtub," Nucky is disarmed, and uncomfortable with what Gillian might be planning. This is the storyline through which Nucky enters this explorative episode, and rightfully so: his relationship to Jimmy was, and is, among the most important components of his decaying character. Even long after Jimmy's death is he still enduring qualms regarding his former protégée. In fact, it seems that Nucky accosts Gillian for her dishonest reports not only out of suspicion for what she might be up to, but out of some remnant of love and respect for Jimmy. Just as Richard and Leander Whitlock do, Nucky seems to feel that Jimmy deserves better than this. But he cannot save him anymore.
Nucky's desire to play the hero, the protective father, has been an anchor on the conflicted man since we first met him, back in the days when he'd tend amicably to a then timid Margaret Schroeder. A new object of his complex seems to be U.S. attorney Esther Randolph, perhaps brought in to replace Bille Kent, whom he has gradually begun to realize is not interested in adopting him as her savior. Teamed with Esther and Stephen Root's Tennessee Williams knockoff, Nucky approaches U.S. Secretary of Treasury Andrew Mellon (James Cromwell) with a ploy to take down George Remus and, by extension, Harry Daugherty, and in turn to make themselves a healthy profit on the operation of a secret distillery. When Nucky presents this plan in Mellon's country club, Mellon has him ousted publicly, calling him an "interloper" and marring Nucky's pride... later on, however, the Secretary phones Nucky to agree to the transaction. But it's that interim period that really charges a few coarse actions for Nucky.
Hurt and angry by the interaction, Nucky visits Billie at an unfortunate time: finding her engaged in some kooky tomfoolery with some mixed gender company. After some unkind words tossed both ways (Nucky rehashes the term "interloper," while he in turn is referred to, quite derogatorily, as "sir"), Billie and Nucky come to the understanding that she doesn't need him to look over her. He finally accepts this, and bids her a loose farewell, insisting still that she take a steady income from him, but that he will no longer provide the father figure motif that she resents so much. It appears that the pair's relationship is over, and then this is cemented. In that final scene.
Angry with Nucky for the whole killing-her-son thing, Gillian forms a relationship with a mutual Thompson-hater Gyp Rosetti, informing him as to where Nucky, Arnold Rothstein, and Lucky Luciano will be dining that night (sort of the 1920s version of an inadvertent Facebook check-in). To satisfy her desires and his own, Rosetti sets up an explosive in the restaurant to do away with his three nemeses. Unfortunately for his plan, Nucky and co. are detained by a talkative boardwalk urchin... the bomb goes off before they even enter the establishment. But Billie Kent, who was accompanying Nucky in a kind of bittersweet peacekeeping of their camaraderie, is ostensibly killed.
Although Billie's death won't be nearly the game changer of many of those to precede her, the hike in stakes is enough to charge the next few episodes. Some serious blood has been drawn, and Nucky can no longer ignore the nuisance that is Gyp.
Nucky's story might lead the action, but the Chicago side of the series has a good deal of riveting stuff going on as well. Following his decision to beat to death a business associate who bullied his friend, Al Capone receives what would ordinarily be an earful from boss Johnny Torrio, fresh back in town from a trip to Italy. But the vacation seems to have changed Torrio. His journey to Pompeii has instilled a zen appreciation for life, and for the decisions of his protégée. As Capone's story thus far has dealt with his shift from boyhood to manhood, this seems to be a pivotal step in that process. He has earned the identity of responsibility in his boss' eyes. Al might start becoming the Al Capone we know historically any day now. But in the kind of connection that would have occurred in a pre-island Lost flashback, Capone finds himself in a meeting with one Nelson Van Alden, who is working for florist/gangster Dean O'Banion following Van Adlen's request for O'Banion's assistance in disposing of a dead body he just happened to have in his living room. Now, Van Alden is a bootlegger... a job he is none too pleased with. But it's better than his regular job. His job where all of the other salesman mock and laugh at him, driving him to a point of madness wherein he actually attacks one of them with a hot iron. Oh yeah, that happens this week. In an amalgamation of Carrie- and The Incredible Hulk-like rage, Van Alden tears apart his office after being incessantly teased by how coworkers, running home and insisting that he and his wife hightail it out of Illinois. But Sigrid has a different idea: why Nelson was at work, she took the time to brew a whole bunch of liquor. Enough to satisfy O'Banion and to sell on their own and rake in the cash they need to live comfortably.
Sigrid is an interesting component to this world. She seems unconcerned with Nelson's wrongdoings. She is loyal to him, for no discernible reason. But she provides him with something he has never had before: support. Even as he enters the crime world full swing, Van Alden is, for the first time, secure. He has someone on his side.
Finally, Margaret, who all but admits to losing her sense of morality, her ideas of "right" and "wrong." The once impeccably conservative Margaret is now willing to help a woman obtain contraceptives. A woman, no less, who had an ad hoc abortion (something the old Margaret would have deemed evil and unholy). And beyond that, she engages unabashedly in a continuation of her romantic tryst with Owen Slater. It's not as though she has a sanct marriage to protect; she and her husband are barely a couple. But she is no longer bothered by this. She is driven by her desires and by her identity of strength... which is why Nucky can no longer be what he once was for her. Ditto Billie. Well, that and the whole she-just-exploded thing.
[Photo Credit: HBO (2)]
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When Boardwalk Empire closed out its second season with a particularly jarring character death, many wondered if the show could actually carry on. With the third season only three episodes in, the HBO drama seems to be striving to expand its universe without completely shutting out the past two years of character development (as we saw most notably on this past Sunday's episode). Apparently, it's working — at least as far as the network is concerned: HBO has renewed Boardwalk for a fourth season.
Set in 1920s Atlantic City, the series tells the story of Nucky Thompson (Steve Buscemi), the New Jersey waterside county's crooked treasurer who makes a living off the illegal distribution of alcohol by keeping his hand in the pockets of the local law enforcement, the various tribes of gangsters, and his beloved city's general population. Presently, Nucky is facing a budding threat in the form of mobster Gyp Rosetti (Season 3 newcomer Bobby Cannavale), who doesn't take too kindly to the treasurer's means of doing business... or to pretty much anything about him. Or anyone. The guy's got a pretty short fuse.
But Season 3 is also giving new rise to supporting characters like war veteran Richard Harrow (Jack Huston), criminals Lucky Luciano and Meyer Lansky (Vincent Piazza and Anatol Yusef), and Nucky's Irish right-hand man Owen Slater (Charlie Cox). It's likely that we'll see these characters, along with several others (perhaps Stephen Graham's Al Capone and Michael K. Williams' Chalky White) given a greater spotlight through this and the newly announced fourth season.
Boardwalk Empire airs Sunday nights at 9 PM on HBO.
[Photo Credit: HBO]
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'Boardwalk Empire' Recap: Spaghetti and Coffee
'Boardwalk Empire' Season 3 Premiere Recap: Resolution

A few of us might be a little...apprehensive about the upcoming Boardwalk Empire season finale, airing this Sunday, considering the huge (and shudder-inducing) reveal in last week's episode of the HBO drama. But as afraid as we might be, there's still a lot of excitement circling the members of 1921's sordid seaside town.
This preview featurette says very little out loud, but shows a good deal of drama in which Nucky, Margaret, Jimmy and the rest of the Atlantic City denizens are enrapt. Below that are two clips from the upcoming episode that give us a bit of insight into the drama that will involve a few of the series' most captivating characters.
Boardwalk Empire airs Dec. 11 at 9 p.m. ET/PT on HBO.
In the first clip from the season finale, we see Margaret meeting with no-nonsense, incorruptible prosecuting attorney Esther Randolph. Margaret has been subpoenaed to testify on Nucky's case, and it seems like she might be on the fence regarding whether or not to remain loyal.
In the next clip, we see the New York boys meeting over the prospect of the heroin trade. Needless to say, Meyer Lansky and Lucky Luciano have been hardly reverent to their longtime employer, Arnold Rothstein. But business is business. The real question is: what will this mean for their new business partner, Jimmy?
Boardwalk Empire's season 2 finale airs this Sunday at 9 p.m. ET/PT on HBO.

S2E10: It’s funny. I was just saying how Angela might very well be my favorite character on all of Boardwalk Empire. And then, this happens...
“How them new shoes be fitting these days?” – Chalky
“A little tighter than expected.” – Jimmy
After only a few weeks of unofficial reign over Atlantic City, Jimmy Darmody has managed to lose the favor of just about every character on Boardwalk Empire. This week’s episode, “Georgia Peaches,” makes an effort to explore the friendless world that the man has built for himself. It seems that a poetic justice has imparted itself unto Jimmy in return for his betrayal of Nucky. Last week, we saw hints that even Richard might be beginning to lose his worship for Jimmy. This week, we see both the “up-and-comers” (Al Capone, Meyer Lansky, Lucky Luciano and Mickey Doyle) and the business heads (Eli Thompson and Jimmy’s father, the Commodore, included—and to a subtler extent, Mr. Whitlock) express an antagonism towards their far-from-competent leader, Jimmy.
Capone and co. are unhappy with Jimmy because, thanks to Nucky’s secretive business dealings, none of them can sell any liquor in Atlantic City. So, they are forced to high-tail it elsewhere (heading to New York, Chicago, Philadelphia…and Jimmy, as we learn at the end of the episode, heads back to his college town, Princeton). Also sparking some animosity is Jimmy’s dismissal of Meyer’s and Lucky’s proposal to sell heroin—a plan in which they are both heavily invested.
“Do what we’re paying you to do. End this.” – Business head
The business heads are meanwhile fed up with Jimmy’s inability to handle Atlantic City’s black community’s strike, provoked last week by a plan set forth by Chalky White and “new friend,” Dunn Purnsley. Jimmy suggests the businessmen give into their salary demands and offer nickel raises—however, just about no one is on board with this. Eli proposes a far more popular violent reaction: the strikers are attacked by Billy-club waving bandits, who also impart some wrath onto Deputy Halloran for his none-too-savvy conversation with Esther Randolph last week.
We also get a taste of the black community’s distaste for Jimmy, courtesy of his conversation with Chalky. When Jimmy fails to meet just one of Chalky’s demands—that is, “justice” brought to the men responsible for the described violence—Chalky insists that the strike will continue through and beyond tourist season.
And, finally, there’s Manny: Jimmy’s number one enemy right now. Manny knows Jimmy was behind his attempted murder. And Manny was already pretty put off by Jimmy’s refusal to pay his debt. So, when Mickey Doyle shows up with an alcohol delivery courtesy of Jimmy, Manny strangles Mickey until he reveals where Manny can find his boss, so that he might take some revenge.
“What’s so fascinating?” – Angela
“That fellow. Not a care in the world.” – Jimmy
Now, before we get into the last bit of misfortune for Jimmy, I think it’s interesting that this episode is notable in its absence of Jimmy’s mother, Gillian. Gillian is at once an incredibly supportive and an incredibly destructive figure in regards to Jimmy. While she is unwaveringly in his corner, she is also responsible for provoking some of the less favorable choices he has made, most notably shooting Nucky. Gillian is only mentioned in passing this week—by Angela, she’s babysitting Tommy—which is funny in an episode that is almost entirely about the devastation that is becoming of Jimmy. My first thought was, the show wouldn’t want to include any character that might be “pro-Jimmy,” in this episode (even Richard is barely seen this week). And that might very well be the reasoning. But maybe we’re also supposed to accept that Jimmy has become his own destructive force. When we met Jimmy in Season 1, he was an entirely promising individual—intellectually and ethically (at least, within this world). Recently, we’ve seen the effect his mother has on him. But now, we’re perhaps intended to understand that even in the absence of Gillian is Jimmy without hope of redemption. He has become what pulls him downward, he no longer relies on his mother for that.
“The most important thing in life, darling…your health. Your husband did this to you.” – Manny
Now, the “big ending.” As I said, Angela might well be my favorite Boardwalk character. And because of that, the scene she shares with Jimmy this week is one of my favorites in a long time. Jimmy acknowledges how unhappy she is, and what thoughts she might have of him. But he promises to make things better for her soon—this is just before he heads to Princeton (the town where he started on his bright path—he’s going back there to corrupt it…some fun symbolism there), and not long before Manny Horvits breaks into their house, killing Angela as payback for everything Jimmy has done to him.
It’s actually the saddest a Boardwalk episode has made me in some time—first, the heartbreaking scene between Jimmy and Angela really wrenches, because we understand (as do they, beneath it all) just how hopeless it is for the two of them to be happy. And then, this tragic figure who still, despite all her tragedy, wants to live…if only for her son…gets killed, thanks to the misdoings of the husband to whom she has been sadly, fearfully and devotedly attached. “Georgia Peaches” really gets to me.
“What would you do, Arnold?” – Nucky
“No one likes a longshot more than a gambler.” – Rothstein
Onto Nucky and family. Nucky’s business in this episode largely concerns his search for a new lawyer—he fires the lawyer whose hairdo we have come to admire for his inadequacy in making Nucky’s case work in any way to his benefit. He then heads to New York to meet a tricky, silver-tongued lawyer named Fallon, recommended by Rothstein.
More personal matters involve the worsening condition of Emily, and Teddy’s jealousy of the attention his sister is getting. When Nucky tends to Teddy to remind him that his mother still loves him, Teddy reveals that he knows that Nucky burned down his old house—but that he’ll never tell. Meanwhile, Margaret revisits her faith in order to pray for her ailing daughter. She even taps into her stowed away money, donating it to the church in order to earn God’s favor, so to speak.
“What should I make sure I never, ever do again?” – Eli
Finally, Esther (free of quips, but still fantastic) rehearses a testimony with Nelson Van Alden, and offers a jailed Eli a deal if he’ll cooperate in the trail against Nucky (which I truly don’t see why he wouldn’t, considering the lack of brotherly love, unless I’m missing some way that this can harm him).
I always prefer when Boardwalk episodes pay tribute to one character in particular as opposed to forwarding six or seven plotlines. “Georgia Peaches” doesn’t offer that much in the vein of new information or developments (with Angela’s death as the exception), but we really needed to see an episode devoted so strongly to Jimmy’s catastrophic downfall. There are suppositions on the rise that he might not be around much longer—but then again, the Princeton tease at the end might indicate otherwise. Either way, getting an illustration of a desperate Jimmy (one so worn out as to be as vulnerable as he was with Angela) is something I highly appreciate.